21 Easy And Comforting Instant Pot Recipes To Try This Winter (2024)

FAQs

What foods should not be cooked in an Instant Pot? ›

In fact, there are a handful of foods that just shouldn't be pressure-cooked. Among them are dairy and fried foods, as well as burgers and steaks.

When it comes to breaking your Instant Pot in, it's a good idea to start with some basic foods and simple meals you're already familiar with, then slowly expand your Instant Pot repertoire from there. Try making staples like eggs, sweet potatoes, rice, or lentils using just the pressure cooker function.

Mostly we boil potatoes in a pressure cooker, but like rice, potatoes also contain a lot of starch. This is the reason why boiling or cooking in this pressure cooker is not considered good for health. If you still plan to use cooker for the same, add a lot of water and wash them thoroughly post cooking.

The Instant Pot's burn message simply means that your Instant Pot has detected that its inner pot has gotten too hot. There may be a slight amount of burned food at the bottom of your pot, but not enough to ruin whatever you're cooking.

Cooking in an “instant pot” or pressure cooker is a great method for preparing your food on many levels — including the nutritional level, according to registered dietitian Beth Czerwony, RD. “Instant pot recipes are absolutely healthy as long as what you put in the recipe is healthy,” she says.

If there's one food group you should avoid in the Instant Pot, it's dairy. The high heat and pressure can cause milk and cheese to curdle, separate or clump together.

You can still pressure cook leaner pieces – like eye of round and top sirloin – but these work best if they've been stuffed, shredded or rolled (with other ingredients). Best cuts of beef to use: Chuck steak, Round Roast, Shoulder, Pot roast, Ribs, Brisket, Oxtail.

Can you cook octopus in a pressure cooker? ›

Place octopus in a pressure cooker and add just enough water to cover. (Be sure to keep water level below pressure cooker's maximum fill line.) Add a couple of large pinches of salt. Close pressure cooker and bring to high pressure (12 to 15 psi).